Vegetarians/ Vegans & Cheap Omega-3?

Fire_Fox

Hello all! :A

I am an omnivore who has taken nutrition modules at degree level, and have to advise clients on a balanced diet as part of my job. Also currently helping to put together meal plans for families on a very tight budget.

I am struggling with budget-friendly vegetarian sources of omega-3 as the quantities required appear to be huge (only 10% O-3 from plant sources is converted to a useable format). I am aware of ground linseeds and their oil, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, rapeseed oil ... none are cheap except the rapeseed oil.

There are also omega-enriched eggs but suspect these are not vegetarian friendly? I believe some of the chickens are fed fish oils. Are these any vegetarian friendly cheeses that would contribute to omega-3 other than LesKol? Lastly can we assume most vegetarians would only buy free-range eggs? What about dairy products, do you buy organic?

Anything that you can recommend that is easy on the pocket and available in supermarkets would be particularly helpful, thanks! :T

jamespir

im not sure what your on about but it sounds like youve got problems


cant you just take omega 3 capsules ?

Fire_Fox

:rotfl: It's probably fair to say I have problems! I would be happy to consider an omega-3 supplement for the meal plan if it was cost effective.

veggieblob

I'm vegetarian and I grind my own flax seeds - much cheaper that way and very easy. Just put a couple of tablespoons in a mini grinder (I have one of those magic bullet things) or a coffee grinder and sprinkle on cereals, add to smoothies. My favourite is to add to yohurt. I don't think it's expensive - one bag lasts ages. If it is really important, have you tried the vegetarian society and vegan society websites?
for example - http://www.vegsoc.org/shared/cgi-bin/sengine?kw=omega+3&rk=3&pn=1&lp=10&tp=%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.tmpl&idp=%2Fsearch%2Fvegsoc.swish

HTH

Badger_Lady

Yeah - I grind my own flax too, which is reasonably budget (one packet of seeds makes an awful lot of ground flax). But then I also use Hemp powder and Hemp oil, which I know aren't cheap, just my preference I did look into capsule-style supplements but it was very difficult to find a veggie source, particularly when you also need the capsules themselves to be vegetarian (rather than the gelatine they traditionally are).

For non-vegans... I've never looked into "omega enriched eggs" but then I'm quite fussy - eggs are always free range (and I always buy the most expensive on the shelf because I don't trust the cheap ones - I've only just become brave enough to eat eggs not from my own chickens). I don't know any veggies that stick to purely organic dairy produce - general rule, if it's got a green V on it (which most have) then it's OK.

Kirri

As a veggie I only buy free range eggs. For dairy I buy some organic (all yoghurts) but cheese and butter I get a mix or organic and non organic, depending on what is available (and I use soya rather than dairy milk).

I was looking at linseed prices earlier as I use it in bread along with other seeds, and Waitrose seem to be the cheapest for a large organic bag.

I have taken supplements before but they aren't cheap and it's harder to find, as already mentioned, veggie capsules and they tend to be even more expensive.

ceridwen

jamespir wrote: »

im not sure what your on about but it sounds like youve got problems


cant you just take omega 3 capsules ?

This is not a "personal" query.

There are a group of us here on MSE currently compiling a major free web resource to help people feed themselves on subsistence level money. The target is £100 a month (yep - I did say MONTH!!) for a family of 4. This being for them to have a diet that is both adequate/tasty and nutritious.

Hence the query made by Firefox.

We are currently a large part of the way through compiling the meat/fish inclusive mealplan. We intend to do the vegetarian mealplan next and that is what this query is about.

So - all offers of advice/help on this welcome:D

bitsandpieces

The omega 3/omega 6 ratio is also important - not sure how helpful pumpkin seeds would be, given the large amount of omega 3 in them (compared to omega 6). I eat Golden Lay eggs - not much dearer than normal free range, easily available, and actually quite tasty http://www.noblefoods.co.uk/about-our-eggs/goldenlay/ Not sure what exactly the chicks are fed, though. Rapeseed oil is quite good for dressing cooked beans etc - so easy to get a fair bit down that way.

In terms of the amounts required - depends what the goal is. Conversion of ALA is poor, but eating a decent amount of ALA does still seem to bring cardio benefits (an 'Indo-Mediterranean' diet might be worth looking at). Vegetarians and (especially) vegans should be able to eat lower amounts of saturated fat and omega 6 fats than meat eaters - and therefore have a reasonable omega 3/omega 6 ratio even if they're getting little or nothing in terms of EPA/DHA.

If there's a specific need for a higher intake, you can get vegan EPA/DHA supplement pills. Not cheap, though, so would be very hard within the budget.

pmorrisjones

I buy linseeds from Julian Graves when they are on buy one get one free or half price. Could buy a year/six months supply if it could be built into budget somehow. :j

Fire_Fox

bitsandpieces wrote: »

The omega 3/omega 6 ratio is also important - not sure how helpful pumpkin seeds would be, given the large amount of omega 3 in them (compared to omega 6). I eat Golden Lay eggs - not much dearer than normal free range, easily available, and actually quite tasty http://www.noblefoods.co.uk/about-our-eggs/goldenlay/ Not sure what exactly the chicks are fed, though. Rapeseed oil is quite good for dressing cooked beans etc - so easy to get a fair bit down that way.

In terms of the amounts required - depends what the goal is. Conversion of ALA is poor, but eating a decent amount of ALA does still seem to bring cardio benefits (an 'Indo-Mediterranean' diet might be worth looking at). Vegetarians and (especially) vegans should be able to eat lower amounts of saturated fat and omega 6 fats than meat eaters - and therefore have a reasonable omega 3/omega 6 ratio even if they're getting little or nothing in terms of EPA/DHA.

Thanks to all so far, it's helpful to know that 'real life' vegetarians are opting for ground linseeds. :T In terms of the amounts required there is no RDA for omega-3 however medical experts have suggested a minimum of 3g omega-3 per adult per week which they have equated to two portions of oily fish.

As you say the conversion rate of vegetarian omega-3 is poor, 10% or less. The Vegetarian Society was suggesting two tablespoons of flax oil, which equates for five tablespoons of ground seeds per person per day! A huge undertaking. The amounts of rapeseed oil was worse, and I then felt concerned we were going to have to build the entire meal plan around one nutrient.

I too buy Goldenlay and Columbus eggs but they are 25p each, and provide only a third of the day's omega-3 which is £90 for the month and, as Ceridwen explained, the entire budget is £100! :eek: For omnivores we can get all the omega-3 in six large cans of pilchards at just £4.

bitsandpieces

One more source of ALA, by the way - Lidl walnuts are pretty reasonable IIRC. About £1.60-80 for 250g, I think. Fair point about the price of the eggs - although if people are buying free range for ethical reasons anyway, I don't think they will carry that much extra cost? Unless I'm missing a source of cheap free range eggs...

Worth noting that there's no settled RDA for EPA or DHA, and guideline amounts tend to be based on typical people (i.e. people who eat meat and fish). Including a decent amount of ALA in the diet - and getting a good omega 3:6 ratio - does seem to bring at least some benefits, and it's not implausible that vegans may do better without fish oil than meat eaters would.

Personally, if I was in good health and avoiding animal products for ethical reasons, I'd just try to get a reasonable amount of ALA as part of a healthy diet. It's worth noting that there are some large vegan populations (who follow the diet for religious reasons) and appear to manage to maintain reasonable health outcomes. Avoiding oily fish may be less-than-ideal in health terms, but people may be prepared to live with that for ethical reasons.